Hifdh Diary: Hifdh Workshop

BismillāhAll praise and thanks are due to Allāh (SWT), who blessed us with the Glorious Qur’ān. Abundant salutations be upon our beloved teacher and role model, the first haafidh, Nabi Muhammad (SAW).

I was honoured to be invited to do a hifdh workshop this morning. I was a little nervous, not about speaking, but about not being prepared enough. I believe life’s an adventure and more fun lived off the cuff. But Life Goal: Stop with my spontaneity and structure my important stuff (and not-so-important stuff!). I phoned Haafidha Z for pointers and advice this morning but she couldn’t take my call.

I thought is went pretty well – far better than I expected, Alhamdulillah. The girls’ feedback was positive and some of them indicated they’d like to have me back.

The main points of my workshop wereintentionand I mentionedone of my reasons for memorising. I gave them the analogy I learned from Haafidha Fadwa, the analogy of the seed and the stone: A seed grows when watered but no matter how much a stone is watered, it never will. Likewise, our hearts can either be seeds or stones, and the nourishment is the Qur’an. To benefit from the nourishment, we need sincerity, humility and good actions. A piece of practical advice I shared was to say “Oh Allah, this is for you” before beginnning to memorise and afterwards, to say “Oh Allah, accept from me.” We made mention of some of the benefits of being a haafidha. We touched on character and gratitude including doing a short gratitude list and I concluded with the apt poem by Sh. Ismail Londt, which the girls loved!

Then, this evening, Haafidha Z phoned me back and during our conversation I thought to myself: “What on earth do I think I’m doing? What right do I have to speak about the Qur’an, let alone be doing a workshop on the Qur’an??” Haafidha Z just exudes Qur’an. She can speak for hours about it. She lives, loves and breathes Qur’an, ma-sha-Allah! Through speaking to her, I came to realise that my workshop included way too many topics. I need to sit and prepare if I am to be of benefit, bi-ith-nillah (with the permission of Allah).

If you’d like more tips to stay on track, tools to keep motivated or be mentored along your hifdh journey, you’re most welcome to contact me.